Opinion

To the sheriff's deputy who blew through the four-way stop at 19th and Mozart streets at 1:09 p.m. Thursday, thank you.

I might have recognized you, and therefore thanked you by name, but you had your hand up to your face, perhaps holding a cell phone.

I want to thank you because a law-enforcement officer blowing the stop sign gives credence to my theory that people going through that intersection driving north or south are different from those of us going east or west.

Each year, millions of people dedicated to eliminating cancer in our lifetime participate in a unique event that helps communities celebrate cancer survivorship, remember loved ones lost and fight back against a disease that takes too much. That event is the American Cancer Society Relay For Life.

Fifty years after a deadly plane crash united residents of Perry County in grief, weekend services again proved how caring our community can be.

Relatives of several victims of the 1960 crash at Millstone of Northwest Orient Flight 710 attended March 13-14 events marking the 50th anniversary of the crash. Led by the local Kiwanis Club and a committee of community members, Saturday's memorial and Sunday's worship service honored the memories of the 63 people who died March 17, 1960.

Anonymous letters are common in my mailbag. One arrives every few days, many of them handwritten. Some are well-thought-out with very neat penmanship. Others are scribbled, obviously in anger or haste. Maybe both.

We don't publish nameless letters, but I read them nonetheless. Some are so profanity-laced they'd make a sailor blush in shame. Others are thoughtful and could otherwise be published unedited, had they come with the authors' name.

Eagles Bluff Park, which overlooks the Cannelton Locks and Dam on the Ohio River, is the crown jewel of Perry County's parks and has been open daily since renovations were completed there in 2008. But those who work until 5 p.m. — certainly a sizable part of the county's population — were never able to enjoy it on weekdays because the park closed at 5 p.m. (and this year winter closing time was changed to 4 p.m.). Effective today, though, that has changed. The park is now open until 7 p.m.

Editor's Note: The Quality of Life Committee sponsored by the Perry County Development Corp. is partnering with The News to present the stories of people who have moved to Perry County or who have returned here after several years away. This column was written by Kenneth Simpson. When it was requested I write an article concerning my family's move to Tell City and Perry County, I had many thoughts. But basically, it was a case of my wife Sandra and me moving back home.

"Alice in Wonderland," Tim Burton and Johnny Depp's latest collaboration, is equal parts strange and goofy. This is not a bad thing, I was just hoping for something a bit darker. The film is still enjoyable and it certainly held my interest.

Spring is still two weeks away but already candidates' campaign signs are springing up like yellow daffodils. The advertising in front yards and the pages of The News are proof that Indiana's May 4 primary is fast approaching and locally contested races for sheriff, treasurer, county commissioner and county council.

A candidate forum April 15 at the Schergens Center will give candidates a public chance to outline their reasons for running and their goals, if elected. So will questionnaires the newspaper will send to them in the next couple of weeks.

I know what many parents are concerned with these days ... Will their child excel in this harsh economic environment? What about preparing for future careers and challenges?

I'm going to let you in on a well-kept secret in Perry County. There is an organization that helps youth develop leadership and citizenship skills. They can also learn other important life skills such as wise use of resources (planning a budget), healthy lifestyle choices (eating right and exercising) and social skills. It's 4-H!

OK, let's get one thing straight: Percy Jackson is not Harry Potter. If you had read anything else about "Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief" (from here on out I'll just stick with "The Lightning Thief") then you've read that Percy doesn't stack up against Harry.

Last week, a Florida magistrate judge ruled that Katherine Evans, a 19-year-old journalism student at the University of Florida, has the right to sue her former high-school principal after being suspended in 2007. Evans, a high-school senior at the time, was given a three-day suspension by former Pembroke Pines Charter High School principal Peter Bayer after she had created a Facebook page titled "Ms.

March 14 is Pi Day. That's because pi, the ratio of the circumference to the diameter of a circle, starts with the digits 3.14159. So, March 14, at 1:59 p.m. (or a.m. if you're up) is the appropriate day and minute to celebrate pi. We should pay special attention to Pi Day in Indiana, because Indiana has a special place in the history of pi. Back in 1897, Dr. Edwin J.

I know the norm is a "top 10," but I couldn't help myself. I thought 2009 was a great year for movies, most notably sci-fi films. Before I set out my list, though, I need to name the films that I didn't get a chance to check out this year due mainly to availability: "Precious," "A Single Man," "Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans," "Fantastic Mr. Fox," "An Education," "Nine" and "Brothers."

Will Evan Bayh's decision to retire from the U.S. Senate do anything to change what's wrong in Washington? Call it what you want: gridlock, partisanship or catharsis. No matter the name, the lack of bipartisan dialogue or respect for the opinions of others and the downright poisonous atmosphere keeps reasonable legislators like Bayh from doing what they were elected to do, help ordinary Americans.

I recently heard a woman describe a friend of hers as leading "a hobo's life." Her friend, who I don't know, apparently switches jobs often, doesn't own a home and carries most of his belongings in the back seat of a 20-year-old car.

By this time you have probably heard it, seen it or read about Tell City U. S. Census 2010 coming in March. While we realize this is repetitive, we feel it is so extremely important we should repeat it once again.

Census 2010 data is used for a number of things, but we feel the three most important ones are:

We all want safe schools: for our kids, our communities. Illegal drugs, drug sellers and weapons have no place in classrooms, hallways or lockers. That's why we were happy to hear that police dogs from several departments, including Tell City's own canine, Jago, visited Tell City schools last week. The dogs and their officer handlers led their dogs around lockers inside the schools. Outside, they led canines around vehicles in parking lots.

As a small boy home from school on a snowy day, I liked to follow rabbit tracks in fresh snow. That seemed like a fun way to spend a morning but it didn't do me any good last week as I tried to dodge a snowdrift next to my house.

The rabbit that left the trail outside my sidewalk, had he been watching, would have laughed his cold, cottony tail off. I didn't think it was all that funny.